So...I'm alive! Shockingly. No excuses, just a depression pit that took me a long time to break out of. I have NO intention of abandoning S&S though, I have put too much of my heart and soul into this to give up now. Hopefully I'm back on my feet enough to stick to regular updates again. (Also I've been very into SnK/AoT recently so if anyone here also likes that...be on the lookout.) Aaaanyway, I'll shut up now and get on with the story. Hopefully I'll have close to a double-update for you to make up for the long delay! So, please enjoy and thank you to anyone who's stuck with it despite me vanishing!
"I'm truly sorry for not telling you about Brigadier General Hughes' death sooner," Alex apologized quietly.
Lissa shook her head. She was glad he was there—she'd suffered enough losses that night already, and it was…a bigger relief than she cared to admit when he'd come down to the coroner's with them. "We understand," she told him, speaking for the boys as well. She knew they didn't blame him for it. "It's…difficult to say something like that."
Beside her, a tremor ran through Ed, and he looked down at the floor in distress. "It's my fault," he whispered.
Alex looked down at him sadly. "Don't be so hard on yourself. His murder wasn't your doing, Edward. That isn't a burden you need to carry."
Lissa reached up and slid her hand underneath the back of Ed's jacket, resting her palm along the base of his spine as the doors to the morgue opened and the doctor in charge of the autopsy stepped out. Her heart was in her throat. So much of her wished, so very desperately, that something was wrong here… That it wasn't Ross. Even now, she couldn't summon up enough hatred towards Mustang to have entirely given up on him yet. It just made her hate herself all the more.
"Is everyone here, then?" the doctor asked, a bit gruffly.
Alex looked up at him like he'd been startled. "Dr. Knox. You…have the results, then?"
The other MPs lingering around gathered while the doctor flipped through his notes, confirming what he'd found even as he delivered the news. "Her body was almost completely destroyed," he began, his tone clinical. "But judging from what little dental work remained, I was able to conclude that this is indeed Maria Ross."
That's it then… He really did it. He killed her.
"It's an awful thing you did. Turning a beauty like her into a pile of charcoal. You must have held quite a grudge against her…" Dr. Knox turned to the right, his gaze bordering on disgusted. "Didn't you, Colonel?"
Mustang scarcely looked up, seated on a bench separate from the others. He knew he wasn't welcome in their circle.
"Is the vengeance as sweet as you imagined it?" Knox pressed derisively.
Yet Mustang just looked away. Lissa thought she might throw up.
Knox scoffed and turned, walking down the hall. "The famous hero of the Ishvalan War, going this far against a little girl. It makes me sick."
A little girl.
That's all Lissa was, too.
Her hand slipped away from Ed's back as cold, visceral fear clawed at her insides. If she were ever forced to choose between Ed and Al, and her orders… It wouldn't be a question. She would always choose the boys, always. No hesitation. Yet if that turned her against Mustang…she had to wonder… Would he do the same to her? Would he burn her to charcoal without so much as a shred of remorse? The man who could do the same to Lieutenant Ross and not even show the tiniest speck of guilt… Surely he could incinerate her and not lose a moment's sleep.
Alex crossed to Mustang then, his face contorted in agony. "Colonel… Please allow me to apologize…for one of my own officers' actions," he began, his voice pained, tight, wavering with emotion. "I could never have imagined that Second Lieutenant Ross would commit such a heinous murder. She was so straightforward and earnest… So compassionate… A truly fine officer." Alex sighed heavily and slumped onto the nearest bench, overwhelmed.
She was… Ross was sweet, her soul was good… She wouldn't do those things… What motivation would she possibly have for murdering Hughes? It doesn't make sense, none of it…
Mustang regarded him for a moment, his mouth a thin line. Then he turned away as though he couldn't bear to look any longer. "Fatigue seems to be getting the best of you, Major," he observed softly. "Perhaps you should take some leave. Back east, where I was… It's a nice place. None of the big city noise…" He eyed Alex again. "And lots of beautiful women."
With that last horrible, insensitive parting comment, Mustang turned and strode off down the hall, leaving them behind.
Ed snarled and lashed out, kicking the nearest trash can with his automail leg.
"Brother…don't," Al whispered sadly. He couldn't seem to muster up the energy to stop him, though. "We should be getting back… Winry will start to worry about us."
"Yeah," Ed agreed softly. They both turned to go, but Lissa was still frozen in place, hardly able to breathe, let alone make her legs work. It could've been her. It still might be. Now…she was officially his subordinate, under his control. If he decided, he could ship her anywhere he chose—assign her to any task he wanted. That's what it means to be a soldier, he'd reminded her and Edward. Following orders, never dissenting…
The pocket watch at her hip felt heavier than she could've imagined.
She flinched as something touched her hand—but it was just Ed's fingers, brushing her palm gently. "Come on, Liss," he encouraged softly. "Al's right, we should go."
"Yeah," she agreed. But still, her legs didn't cooperate.
Ed gave her a crestfallen look, and the pain in his eyes reflected her own. He understood. He knew what she was struggling with—for they were both in the same exact position now. "I know," he whispered, rising onto his toes and resting his forehead against hers. "I know, Lissa. But it won't be like this forever, I swear to you."
"I hope not," she admitted quietly.
He kissed her forehead, right in front of Al, but it was so much about comfort, about reassurance, that she knew it wouldn't seem out of place. "I promise, okay? But for now…we just need time, I think. All of us do."
She nodded slowly. He was right—time was all she could think of, to make this ease. So when he took her hand and pulled her, she followed this time, placing all her trust in Ed. Lissa had to believe he and Al would stand by her—because without them… Without them she had nothing, absolutely nothing to stand on.
Back at the hotel, they brought Winry into their room and shared the events of the night with her. She was shocked, though she only knew Mustang peripherally, unsettled by the entire thing… And the four passed the night awake, sitting together. Lissa had Edward's head in her lap, though she didn't recall when he'd lain down like that, but that was the nature of staying up all night… It screwed with the mind, no matter how alert she felt.
With his gaze distant and his eyes half-lidded, Lissa found herself in the unique position to study his face… Something she didn't get to do, not like this. Sitting so close, she could see all the faint scars, the remnants of old fights… He still had that scar above his right eyebrow, from the Fifth Laboratory. It kept reopening so much she wondered if it'd ever heal.
And on his left cheek and jaw…she could see faint purplish bruising from when Mustang struck him. Right then, she swore to herself she'd pay the injury back, insubordination or not.
Someone knocked on the door, startling her out of her thoughts. Ed sat up, scowling a bit, and rose from the sofa to go check on it. "This better be good," he muttered. "It's too early for bullshit." Still visibly cross, he swung the door open and all but demanded, "Yeah, who is it? What do you-"
But he cut himself off with a yelp as he beheld Alex, standing there with an unfathomable expression on his face—and his left arm drawn back, fist curled.
Lissa shot to her feet as the blow landed, not on Ed's body but on his automail, directly on his right arm. He went skidding down the hall and out of sight, and she rushed out after the two, furious and baffled. "Alex, what the hell was that for?!" she demanded of him angrily. "Haven't we been through enough crap tonight?"
Alex picked Ed up by the back of his jacket, and began to bend his automail back and forth almost experimentally with his other hand. "Hm, this is no good. No good at all," he mused, as though he hadn't heard her. "Your automail seems to be broken."
Ed raised an eyebrow as Alex set him down again. "Um…okay…"
"Yes, this is a serious situation indeed!" Alex bellowed, giving a firm nod. "We'll have to repair it at once. There's no time to waste." He took on a rather imperious look. "Allow me to escort you and your partner to Resembool for repairs."
Lissa gaped at him. "To Resembool? Both of us?"
"Um, Major… What's up? Are you feeling okay?" Ed asked dryly.
Winry and Al peered out the hotel room door, both looking equally confused. "What was that?" Winry muttered.
"You're going back home to Resembool?" Al asked, baffled.
Ed shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea what he's talking about, Al!"
Undeterred, Alex marched up to Al and stuck his face right up almost against the helmet. "And you, Alphonse Elric… You would stand out too much, so you shall remain here in Central."
"Uh, okay," Al agreed warily.
"Wait a second, Alex, can you at least tell us-" But Lissa cut herself off with a startled yelp as Alex bypassed every layer of politeness and scooped her up underneath his arm, simply carting her off while he dragged Ed behind him, going on about train tickets and how they needed to hurry. When they reached the stairs, Alex lifted Ed the same way, tucking him underneath his opposite arm like a disobedient terrier or something. It was so mortifying.
"Cut it out, Major!" Ed complained irritably. "Put us down!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Alex told them, his voice going very solemn out of nowhere. "These are my orders. From him."
Him?
Well, that was ominous. Lissa peered across at Edward, as trapped as she was, and exchanged a bewildered look. If it had been anyone, anyone else from the military, they both would've been fighting back tooth and nail, using alchemy, hand-to-hand, whatever tools they had available… But this was Alex. Not only would that be useless…he was the last person who'd hurt them. Right?
"So, what are we betting on here?" Lissa asked, hopping off the train to land on the platform beside Ed. "Are we actually getting kidnapped, or is this an elaborate scheme to make you cut your hair?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Ugh, bite me. I'd prefer a kidnapping."
Lissa grinned and tugged at his braid, unperturbed. Despite herself, she was feeling…lighter. Alex had been stoic on the ride down, burying his nose in a book and refusing to answer any questions—so Ed and Lissa had amused themselves, which entailed a strange mixture of shop talk, what she thought might be his form of flirting, and positing theories for why Alex had dragged them all the way out to Resembool. She was using it as an excuse to rib Ed, but they'd talked about a couple genuine theories, most revolving around information too sensitive to even be discussed within the bounds of Central City. It would explain the feigned damage to Ed's automail, the one excuse guaranteed to yank them both out of the city…
Except for the fact that Winry was still in Central. But, well. Details.
"Bite me?" she repeated, smirking. "Why, Ed. I'm surprised at you."
His cheeks reddened. "Shut up."
Lissa just laughed as he rushed ahead, chasing after Alex, and jogged to catch up with them. She didn't have her usual leather jacket, leaving her in a lilac tank top and black trousers, but at least she still had her gloves—Ed didn't have his red cloak, either, which admittedly made them blend in better. Part of her wondered if that was purposeful. Still, it made him easier to lose in a crowd, so she latched onto his wrist before he could get too far.
"Are you ever gonna tell us what's going on?" he asked Alex, exasperated. "This is starting to feel a little too much like a kidnapping."
"Really," Lissa agreed, shrugging. "You did take us to the middle of nowhere."
As they walked away from the station, Alex finally broke his endless silence. "I haven't been fully informed on the details," he admitted. "My only orders were to retrieve the two of you and rendezvous here."
Ed scoffed. "Rendezvous? With who, exactly?"
Further up the lane, a man in a civilian suit with a suitcase beside him rose from where he'd been sitting on the low rock wall—and saluted. "I'm glad you made it all right, Major Armstrong, sir!" Then, dropping the salute and grinning, he added to Ed, "Hey. Sup, big guy?"
"Breda?" Lissa gasped, while Ed simmered with rage at the height jab. She jogged up to greet him, not angry with Mustang's men just because of their association with him. "What's going on here?"
Breda grinned at her. "Oh, hey, Cadet. Or—guess I should call you Starlight now, huh?"
Lissa wrinkled her nose and waved him off. "Ugh, please, no. Just Lissa. Seriously, though, why did you guys drag me and Ed all the way out here? We're not stupid, we know it's not for automail repairs. Winry was still in Central, she could've handled it."
"Though… I might actually need that tune-up," Ed muttered, giving Alex a sharp glare.
Breda picked up his suitcase and waved for them to follow him. "Come on. You want answers, they're gonna be this way."
Lissa gave Ed a thoughtful look as he stepped up beside her, communicating in just a few short glances. "Sure," she agreed finally, threading her arm around Ed's and grinning. "We'll bite, I guess. Lead the way."
"Not like we have any other choice if we wanna know what the hell's going on," Ed muttered.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for them to start actually being handed down substantial answers. But nothing, nothing could've prepared them for it. Lissa found she was actually glad Alex hadn't said a damned word… She wouldn't have believed him anyway.
No…there wasn't a chance Lissa would have believed they were leaving the damn country.
As Ed continued repeating, like his personal mantra, hot.
Very fucking hot.
It was one thing to read about how bitterly, overwhelmingly hot a desert was—but it was another thing entirely to live it, to sit under that omnipresent heat and feel like your whole body was going to cook alive. Lissa decided, within the first few hours, that she hated the desert. When Breda and their guide, a Xingese man named Mr. Han, had explained they were going east, she'd almost been excited. How naïve. The desert was hell, riding a horse was hell, it was all hell.
"Cheer up, Edward," Alex called to him brightly. "It isn't all that bad!"
Ed glared at him. "Well excuse me for having metal limbs attached to my skin! I'm frying over here!"
Lissa frowned at him worriedly. "Shit, Ed. That's right… Even covered your automail is just gonna keep taking in the heat." She glanced towards the front of their little column, but Mr. Han showed no signs of even slowing—so she tugged on one side of her horse's reins and guided it in closer to Ed. From there, she could see the redness in his face and feel the heat simmering off him, not with her extra senses but purely with her alchemical ones, the heat exciting the air around his right arm and left leg. "Okay," she announced, reaching into her sleeves and tugging her gloves off to stick into her pocket. "Give me a second… I'm not used to doing this at such a distance."
"Wait, what are you…" Ed trailed off as the air around his body sparked blue, tendrils of alchemical energy streaking from Lissa's outstretched fingers and surrounding him. She focused on the particles around him, the heat trapped in his automail, and began to rearrange the very air around him, channeling that heat up and out.
He let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Holy shit. Holy shit. That's so much better, Liss. I seriously thought I was gonna cook for a second there."
Lissa grinned and let up on her energy. "It'll build back up, though… Just let me know when it starts to get too uncomfortable again and I'll help, okay?" She reached across towards him, catching his eyes just sparkling at her as he reached out and met her in the middle, his fingers brushing hers.
"Man," Breda sighed, shaking his head. "You just keep getting better and better, don't you, kid? This stuff is all crazy to me."
"I haven't seen you use your alchemy that way before," Alex noted curiously. "It does seem as though you've continued to improve and expand your skillset, Lissa. Excellent work."
She wrinkled her nose at the praise. "I'm just getting creative, that's all."
"Whatever it is, I'll take it if it keeps me from boiling alive," Ed laughed, his whole demeanor lifting without the threat of his automail burning him looming over his head. Even though it wasn't an easy transmutation, by any means, she'd do it a hundred, a thousand times over, until she keeled over from exhaustion, if it meant making Ed smile like that again.
Up ahead, she heard Breda ask, sounding a bit exhausted. "Mr. Han, how much further do we have left?"
"We've almost made it," Mr. Han told him. It sounded like the chiming of damned bells to Lissa. "Look, you can see the ruins ahead." He lifted a hand and pointed, directly along their path, and she squinted against the sunlight to see whatever he was indicating.
Sure enough, through the shimmering midday heat, Lissa could see a series of stone ruins, getting closer every second. "Wait a minute… Ruins?" She looked round at Ed in shock. "We're going to Xerxes?"
"Yup, the very same," Mr. Han confirmed.
Ed let out a slow breath. "Wow. Xerxes. Weird, I never thought we'd bother to come out this far. How long should it take us to get there?"
Their guide shrugged faintly. "Mh, a few hours, I'd say."
A few hours. Lissa bit back the urge to groan. That was gonna be a long damn few hours, out in this relentless heat.
And sure enough, she was right. On the way there, while the sun beat down overhead, she expended about as much energy as she dared just keeping Ed from being in active pain—he tried to hide it a couple times, but she could sense when the heat trapped in his automail got to be too much and interfered against his protestations. By the time they rode into Xerxes, or what was left of it, Lissa was beginning to feel almost faint with the energy expenditure.
But it was worth it. She knew it was worth it.
As they rode through the ruins, heading for some unknown destination further in, Lissa got a burst of familiar before someone leapt down into their path. "Took you long enough," muttered Fu, one of Ling's own bodyguards.
"Wait, you're here?" Ed asked, looking at him in shock. "The hell is so important out here in Xerxes anyway?"
Fu grunted. "Hmph. You'll see soon enough." He turned and strode off then, apparently not caring to share any further information. "Come on, camp's just a bit further in. We've got supplies and plenty of water to go around."
Water. The thought of water was enough to spur Lissa on. She'd imagined bottles or canteens, certainly, but the goddamned fountain of water just sitting in the middle of the clearing into which they emerged was the best thing she'd seen in a year, she really thought. Ed seemed to agree. He jumped right off his horse, stripped down to his boxers, and leapt right into the circular pool, vanishing under the surface immediately.
Lissa slid down off her own horse, her legs protesting, and grabbed the reins of Ed's abandoned horse before it could go wandering off. "Always cleaning up his messes," she muttered, smiling. She turned to pass the reins off to Alex, figuring he'd know what to do with the horses… Only to see him grinning at her in the most knowing way. "Don't say a word!" she grumbled, and shoved the reins into his hands.
"Hey, Liss!" Ed stuck his head up long enough to flag her down. "C'mon, it feels fucking great in here!"
She laughed and stood at the edge of the fountain, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, not so much, Ed. I can't exactly go around in my skivvies like you can. Well, okay, I could, but it's more risqué since less of my ass is covered."
He rolled his eyes at her. "Lame."
Lissa giggled and leaned against the edge, yanking her boots and socks off to shake the sand out. "Insult me all you want, but I—NO!"
But her vehement denial was cut off by an indignant shriek as he yanked her right in, grabbing her around the middle and dragging her down with him. Lissa pushed to her feet and glared at him through her sopping wet hair, trying to keep some form of dignity. "Edward Elric, you smarmy little shit!" she yelled, while he just laughed and laughed. "All my clothes are freaking soaked now!"
He smirked up at her and waved his hand. "It'll dry. C'mon, loosen up, huh? I didn't burn to death, we survived the desert…"
She sniffed and went to turn away, watching his expression fall out of the corner of her eye. He really thought he'd upset her, didn't he? Letting him stew for a minute, Lissa bent over the edge of the little fountain or well or whatever it was, as though she was looking for something to grab onto in order to get out. "Loosen up, huh?" she repeated. "Fine."
Lissa spun around, watching gleefully when Ed's eyes widened as she dunked his clothes right under the water. "Okay, I can do that!"
He stared at her for a moment, jaw dropped—and then launched forward, tackling her into the water. "Not fair!" he complained, scrabbling to pick up his clothes even though it was already much too late. "My automail's gonna be all wet forever then!"
She grinned and pulled him into her, freeing the clothes from his hands. "Dummy. I can separate out the hydrogen and oxygen molecules." Lissa realized, a moment too late, that her shirt had ridden up in the scuffle—and as she tugged Ed in close, they pressed together skin on skin, something that felt so…so intimate there in the water.
Lissa released him immediately, hoping he hadn't noticed her slip, and pushed to her knees. "How's your arm and leg?" she asked instead of admitting anything had happened.
Ed swallowed visibly. "Uh—they're fine. You saved my ass out there, Liss. Thank you."
She beamed at him, pleased with herself. "Don't worry about it. Hey, we're supposed to be partners now, right? That's what partners do."
"Yeah," he agreed softly, resting back on his hands and smiling at her. "I guess you're right."
They climbed out of the water soon after, and Lissa made good on her word earlier, obligingly drying out their clothes and helping Ed with his automail too. With that finished, he shook his tank top out, clearing it of sand and any water she might've missed, and Lissa caught herself just…staring at the muscles in his abdomen. Had he…toned down even more since the last time she'd been this shameless? Or was she just…that much more lost to him?
"So this is Xerxes, huh?" he mused, looking at the ruins around them. "Looks just like the fable described it."
Fu turned to him curiously, drawn out of his conversation with Alex, Breda, and Mr. Han. "Did you say a fable?" he asked, maybe a bit intensely, his interest piqued.
"Oh, I know the one," Lissa realized, forcing herself to stop gawking. "About the Eastern Sage, right?"
Ed nodded his confirmation. "That's it. It's the story about the origin of alchemy in Amestris. It claims the entire kingdom of Xerxes was destroyed in a single night. And that the only survivor wandered into Amestris shortly afterwards. He was the one who went on to spread the science of alchemy."
Fu regarded him a moment, looking thoughtful. "How interesting," he mused. "We have a similar legend in Xing about a drifter from the west. It's said that his teachings were combined with our ancient techniques to form the alkahestry we practice today."
"And alkahestry's primarily used for medical needs, isn't it?" Ed clarified.
"Yes," Fu confirmed for him. "He guided the process. And we greatly revere him. We know him as the Western Sage."
Ed opened his mouth to speak—only to let out a little hiss and cringe away, shifting his right shoulder uncomfortably. Lissa moved to his side immediately. "You can't keep this out in the direct sunlight for too long," she told him, taking his shirt and draping it over his shoulder for a moment to at least take his port out of the sun. "Here, let me just…"
A burst of blue energy whirled around his arm, crackling, and the tension faded from his face as Lissa altered the temperature.
Fu's eyes followed her every move. "How strange," he murmured.
"Strange?" she repeated, standing up from where she'd bent down to retrieve the rest of Ed's clothes, since he'd only gotten his trousers on before they'd been distracted by legends. "What's strange, Mr. Fu?"
He gestured at Ed's arm. "Your alchemy. The way you manipulate the air, and the individual particles… It seems to take influence from alkahestry."
Lissa frowned at him and shook her head. "That's…not possible, though. I've never studied alkahestry, only alchemy. And I've been able to work with small elements since I was a little girl—we call it intangible elements in Amestris, but it's still just…alchemy, that's all." She turned her hands over and displayed the inked backs to him, shrugging. "I use alchemic transmutation circles to activate it, too."
"Hm…" He leaned in and examined her tattoos for a moment. "I'm no alkahestrist… But I know what alkahestry feels like, in comparison to pure Amestrian alchemy. And yours does not feel pure. Perhaps you have Xingese ancestry. That could account for it."
"Xingese ancestry?" Lissa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "That's gotta be rare."
Though… Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu all feel…weirdly familiar to me. Still, maybe that's just because of what Fu sensed, the weird way my alchemy presents. It isn't alkahestry, though, or it wouldn't be activated with Amestrian-alchemy transmutation circles.
With Ed safely tucked under his tan traveling cloak again—and everyone else, but Lissa was mostly concerned with him—their group set off through the ruins once more, going even deeper this time. Lissa was beginning to feel almost desperate to know what the hell they were doing out here, with such a strange assortment of people. It had to be important…but what was it?
"So, wait… That Sage guy you were talking about, Fu… The west in his title is supposed to refer to here? Is that what you were saying?" Breda asked as they walked, his investigator's mind following the thought process from before.
Fu nodded. "It is believed so, yes."
They passed into a slightly more whole building, with a high, arched ceiling still somewhat intact. Breda was still on his subject, though, refusing to let it go entirely. "But if Xerxes was such a highly advanced society, how were they wiped out in a single night?"
It was a good question, Lissa thought, sharing a poignant look with Edward.
"It could very well just be a legend," Fu admitted, shrugging.
Lissa sensed when Ed stopped moving and paused beside him, following his gaze to an enormous stone wall etched with designs. At first she thought it was decorative, but… "Ed," she murmured, touching his shoulder lightly, "doesn't that look like…"
"A transmutation circle," he confirmed lowly. "Yeah, I thought so too."
"But what would-"
"What are you two gawking at?!" Fu demanded irritably, from up ahead. "C'mon! You don't want to get misplaced in here!"
Lissa frowned up at the array. "Later," she suggested, tracing her hand down and taking Ed's in hers, her fingers sliding between his. "Okay? We'll come check it out later on."
He nodded firmly, and they hurried away from the spot to catch back up.
Their group went deeper and deeper into Xerxes, traversing the ancient, deserted city with a clear path—Lissa just didn't know where they were going. It was a big place, Xerxes, bigger than it seemed on a map. And honestly, being this far in was kind of daunting when she considered how long they'd been walking, and in a fairly straight path, too.
"I wonder where they're taking us," Lissa murmured to Ed.
He shrugged faintly. "Dunno. Nothing to do but stick with it, I guess."
"Edward? Lissa?"
Lissa staggered to a halt at the voice, standing utterly frozen between Ed and Alex, and peered up to find the source of the call. She squinted against the sunlight, her heart racing when she saw a figure standing just above them… With short dark hair and a familiar smile…
"Ross?!"
"That damned Colonel," Ed breathed, grinning in sudden elation.
Maria Ross jumped down to stand before them, smiling, looking relieved and alive, she was actually alive!
As Alex lost his head, tearing free of his shirt and chasing poor Ross around to embrace her, Lissa sagged into Ed's side and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to come to terms with it all. Mustang hadn't killed her. But he'd claimed he had, which meant…which meant… He'd faked her death?! All of that pain, the blame he accepted, the hatred he'd taken on… And he hadn't even killed Lieutenant Ross.
Guilt knotted her stomach. "He didn't do it," she whispered. "Ed… He didn't kill her."
"No," he acknowledged softly, bringing his arm up around her and pulling her into his side. "No he didn't, Liss."
"There really wasn't anyplace in Amestris we could safely hide a dead girl," Breda explained, grinning wryly. "Especially one that's still alive, you know?"
"So the Colonel knew that Lieutenant Ross was innocent all along?" Ed asked, turning to him.
"Now that's quite a story." Breda jerked his chin towards the clearing ahead, where Fu and Mr. Han waited. "C'mon, you two. Settle in. The Major needs to hear this too, might as well tell everybody at once, right? Er…" He cast a bemused look towards Alex and Ross. "Once the Major's calmed down a bit, that is."
Lissa sat pressed against Edward's side, still reeling from everything they'd been told. Not only had Mustang not killed Ross—he'd orchestrated her whole escape, arranging to falsify her dental records, getting part of his team to pitch in and help, even somehow getting Barry the Chopper to fucking help out… All of it because he knew Ross was innocent, and didn't want the wrong person incarcerated for Hughes' murder.
And she'd said such awful things… Lissa wondered if Mustang had drawn his unending stoicism that night from pain, not apathy.
It wasn't just Mustang, either. Ling had gotten involved, and cut a deal with Sixty-Six that explained Fu's presence here as well. The prince had tasked him with delivering Ross safely to Xing, where she'd be well out of reach of the Amestrian military—and protected there as well, by Ling's own clansmen.
At the end of it all, though, rather than being awed…Ed just smirked and muttered, "You've gotta be joking. I can't believe the Colonel was able to pull one over on us like this."
"He knew it'd be easier to convince you and Lissa if you actually saw Lieutenant Ross," Breda explained, shrugging.
Ed grinned and raised his hands. "Fine, I'll admit it, all right? He actually knew what he was doing this time." It was quite a concession for him, too, considering he rarely had two positive words to say for Mustang.
"He mentioned something else." Breda's expression turned wry. "He said he didn't want to take a chance on a couple of hot-tempered kids endangering the operation…so he sent you two out here."
"Hot-tempered kid?!" Ed raged, incensed.
Lissa only rolled her eyes. That was the Mustang she knew—always doing something good, but with a sharp backhand at the end. So he hadn't changed all that much, then.
Alex gave Breda a thoughtful look. "You said operation," he noted. "So is there a phase beyond liberating Lieutenant Ross?"
"Indeed. He's got a plan to reel in the puppeteer—the one that's behind the conspiracy."
Ed blinked at him in surprise. "Wait, what?"
Lissa leaned forward eagerly, seizing the comment. "Wait, Mustang's trying to root them out?" she asked, feeling her eyes shoot wide. "The ones behind all of this? He's actually got a plan to force them out of hiding?"
"Yup, he sure does. You guys remember Barry, from the Fifth Lab?" Breda asked, too casually to be aware what the name meant to them. "He went on one hell of a rampage. They're bound to send someone to reclaim him. It ended up being a great opportunity, actually, all the fuss the Colonel made and the high-profile nature of it all. The idea is…now that we're all here…we can pool our evidence out here where it's safe to talk, and see what we can make of it all."
Ed tapped Lissa's shoulder. "You got the ouroboros?"
She found it in herself to smile at him. "You know it. You can do the transmutation circle?"
"'Course. Hey, Major, you remember the drawings Liss and I did back in Central, of the two homunculi we saw at the Fifth Laboratory? You're pretty good at drawing, maybe you can help us redo those." Ed grinned and snagged Breda's notebook when he held it out. "Then there's Greed, too, he might be gone but he's still part of the equation."
"I'll handle that," Lissa offered quickly. "You do the circle first, Ed, and you can help me finish."
Within just a few minutes—largely made possible by Alex's exceptional drawing skills—they'd finished up the drawings they had to add to the list of information, and between Lissa and Ed, they were able to explain the overall concept, or at least what they knew of it. The Philosopher's Stone, the homunculi, the human sacrifices… Everything they had, they laid it out for the others to take in.
Except Lissa's additional senses. Ed very carefully left that out. It meant ignoring her suspicions about Führer Bradley, but she was too afraid to reveal herself and she was so grateful Ed picked up on that without causing an awkward situation.
At the end of it all, Ross slumped her shoulders, looking miserable. "I've got nothing to do with this," she realized dejectedly. "Zilch. And yet here I am, stuck in the middle of it... And framed by homunculi."
Lissa sat back against Ed's side, feeling guilty even though it wasn't really anyone's fault but their enemies'.
"We've collected a fair amount of intelligence," Breda mused, staring down at the assortment of drawings and going between those and his own notebook thoughtfully. "And once we piece it together properly, we'll have the General's killer."
Alex folded his arms across his chest. "I promise you this, Lieutenant. We will absolve you of this crime!"
Lissa felt Ed sink into her just a bit, his expression turning sad and distant. "Lieutenant Col… I mean… General Hughes…" He sighed weakly, bowing his head. "It's just hard to accept that he's dead, even now."
"And what shall you do now, Edward Elric?" Alex asked lowly.
Ed twisted his fingers together, a gesture Lissa knew all too well within herself. "Al and I committed a taboo," he murmured softly, his words coming out cautious, each chosen carefully before he spoke. "But…we still have people that help us. Some people get angry at us, and others support us silently. Each one of them has tried to help me keep my promise to my brother."
Not his promise to you… Just yours to Al… So you really aren't worried about getting your body back, are you?
His fingers tightened around his own automail, the wrist joint clanking with the pressure. "So I have no choice. I can't turn back. Which means all I can do is move forward, right?" Ed lifted his arm and clenched his fist beneath his glove, the single one he'd kept on, his voice soft and yet resolute, immutable. "And I'll protect everyone I can along the way. I refuse to let another person become a victim. Not while I'm alive." He unclenched his fist and stared down at his own hands. "I know that's a hard promise to keep. It's hard enough just trying to take care of myself. And to think that I'm even capable of it…" A faint sigh. "Maybe I'm just arrogant. But…it's the only thing I can think of. So I have to do it. I have to."
Lissa rested her right hand atop his left, palms pressing together, and tucked her fingers between his. She didn't speak a word, but she didn't need to, she thought. Not when he tightened his hand on hers and brought it to his forehead, brushing her knuckles there just lightly.
No one told him he was wrong—no one suggested he couldn't do it. Alex merely nodded, accepting that, and turned to Ross. "And you, Lieutenant? Do you intend to seek asylum in Xing, as was offered to you?"
"Yeah," she agreed, smiling gamely. "I'm gonna give Xing a shot."
She was leaving, then. Ed looked up sharply, like he hadn't expected she'd actually go through with it, but Lissa wasn't really surprised. Somehow…it just made sense, given her options. Xing was her safest choice, the one that afforded her the greatest chance of making it through all this.
So just before sunset, they all gathered to see Ross off, with Fu as her guide, among a few other people who had been recruited for the task as well. It was…difficult, in a way, watching her leave like that… But it was for the best. Lissa knew that. It was better for her to leave and live than stay around and face what was to come. Not that she thought Ross was cowardly, not by a long shot. No… Lissa was just glad to see someone, anyone, come out safely.
"We should get going soon," Alex noted, checking the position of the sun. "Otherwise it will be too late."
"Liss and I have something to check out first," Ed told him. "We won't be long."
The stone carving they'd seen before… Of course. Lissa grabbed his hand and they headed off together, retracing their steps through the ruins, working together to pick out landmarks and find their group's footprints in the dust…until finally they emerged onto that same platform, atop which sat the carving from before.
"There," Lissa murmured, mounting the steps and staring up at it. "This thing is huge."
"Doesn't it look familiar to you?" Ed asked, with his arms folded over his chest. "It looks just like the transmutation circle from the Fifth Laboratory to me." He uncrossed his arms and stepped up behind Lissa, draping his arm around her shoulders and leaning into her as he pointed out the visible symbols at each of the five points. "So there's a two-headed dragon there… And then the sun. But…" He groaned and dropped his forehead onto her shoulder. "Ugh, dammit! Why does the top part have to be missing?" Ed complained.
Lissa felt the shift in the air, heard footsteps patter along the stone behind them, felt Ed's fingers tighten on her, all in a single heartbeat. She ducked away as Ed dodged sideways, pivoting on the ball of her foot and turning back to see Ed had knocked the man flat on his stomach and jammed a knee into his back. Their attacker's arm was twisted behind him at an uncomfortable angle, one push away from having the bone snapped in two.
"The hell do you want?" Ed asked harshly. "We don't have any money, so you've…" But he trailed off, frowning. "Wait, you're an Ishvalan?"
Lissa tuned into the buzzing of her senses and spun, putting her back to Ed as Ishvalans stepped into view all around them, creeping out of hiding and moving forward in a single mass. In seconds, they were completely surrounded.
"Shit," Lissa breathed, lifting her hands as she tried to assess how exactly to fight their way past these sheer numbers.
"Excuse me," one of the Ishvalans spoke up, and peeled away from the crowd to approach them. "I'm afraid that we're gonna have to take you two hostage until your military returns our holy land to us."
Ed twisted their attacker's arm around, adjusting his hold but not relenting, and turned to smirk at the one who'd spoken. "They're not gonna return squat," he told the man bluntly. "Not over a couple kids."
Yet the man looked down at them still, his expression somehow…sad. "It was the death of a single child that triggered the entire Ishvalan Civil War… So you really shouldn't doubt your significance in the eyes of history," he told them, continuing to approach, his red eyes fixated on Ed. Lissa realized he truly did intend to take them hostage, not realizing that the Amestrian military wouldn't care about a couple expendable alchemists.
She stepped between the Ishvalan and Ed, raising her hands, palms out in a gesture of calming. "Please, don't do this," she asked him softly. "We don't want to hurt anyone. The military isn't going to make a trade—but we are alchemists, and if you try to take us hostage, we'll be forced to defend ourselves. We don't want to do that."
The man took another step towards her. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "But we have no choice."
"That's enough of your shameful behavior!" a new voice rang out, startling the assembled Ishvalans.
Lissa turned to see an elderly woman approaching, supported at the arm by a younger boy, as well as using a cane to keep herself on her own two feet. At her words, the Ishvalans surrounding Lissa and Ed began to murmur, anxious and confused, and the one closest to Lissa breathed, "Madam Shan!"
The woman's gaze was firm. "Look at you fools… Are you all trying to dishonor the name of Ishvala?" Her words made the rest of the Ishvalans wince and look ashamed, all suddenly uncomfortable with the entire thing.
"Look, he won't try to attack you again," the boy at her side insisted. "Can you please just let him go now?"
Ed glanced around a moment, before releasing the man who'd tried to attack them. Then he rose to his feet and stood beside Lissa, fixing Madam Shan with a skeptical, narrow-eyed look. "You stood up for us. I don't get it. I always heard that you guys hated Amestrians."
Though Madam Shan's right eye was covered with a bandage, she still managed to fix him with a fierce look. "Despite the atrocities your country has committed, I know that not all Amestrians are bad."
That was…a first. Lissa took Ed's arm absently, pulling him in closer for a sort of comfort. "How did you come to that conclusion?" she asked warily. "Not from accosting travelers out here in Xerxes, I assume."
The boy shook his head sadly. "Madam Shan and I were both injured during the civil war," he began. "But then we were saved by two Amestrian doctors. To be honest…" The boy bowed his head, seeming to wrestle with something. "I do hate you. But the two of them saved me. And you deserve the same treatment."
"Wait a minute…" Ed's fingers tightened on Lissa's arm. "You're not talking about the Rockbells, are you?"
Lissa gaped at him. The Rockbells? Winry's parents?
Both the boy and Madam Shan looked at each other in visible shock. The boy leaned forward, eyebrows pinched as he asked, "Are you saying you were a friend of Dr. Rockbell?"
"Uh, yeah." Ed raked his free hand through his bangs.
A smile came over the boy's face, something genuine and kind. "They saved the lives of countless Ishvalans," he explained, sounding genuinely touched. "All throughout the course of the entire war."
"No kidding," Ed breathed, smiling too now. "They were like an aunt and uncle to me. I grew up with their daughter, we're both close with her."
Madam Shan's lips curled upward. "They refused to abandon their post… It didn't matter how much the fighting escalated."
"How did…" Lissa turned to Ed in surprise as his voice darkened, his gaze falling away to the stone beneath their feet. "How did they die?" he managed to ask, though she felt him clinging to her, leaning into her as he spoke.
"They were killed," Madam Shan admitted, in a tone full of regret. "They were both murdered in cold blood. And…it was by the hand of an Ishvalan they'd saved."
Ed flinched at her words. "But that's so…"
Unfair, awful, despicable… Nothing seemed to quite do it justice. Lissa felt so horrible for Winry, to lose her parents to something like this, nothing more than a cruel twist of fate itself…
"I'm so sorry," Madam Shan told them honestly, pained. "There was nothing we could do to stop him."
"Tell me who did it!" Ed demanded sharply, sparking into anger so fast.
Lissa pressed her hand into his chest. She murmured his name, a warning, trying to keep him from losing his temper. He could be so volatile even under the best of circumstances, but here… It could be infinitely worse if he lost control.
The Ishvalan woman bowed her head. "His face was wrapped in bandages… But he was an Ishvalan monk, and his right arm was tattooed."
She waited for the inevitable rage—but Edward just bowed his head to the woman instead. "Thank you," he murmured, "for telling me. And for sparing us." He pulled Lissa closer, wrapped his arm around her waist, possessive and protective all at once. She wondered at the shift in him, in his demeanor. "We won't forget this."
"Young man… If you should have the chance…" Madam Shan gave him a tentatively hopeful look. "Would you deliver a message to the resting place of the Rockbells for us? Please give them our thanks… And our apologies."
"Of course," he murmured. Ed turned to Lissa and summoned up a faint, weak smile. "C'mon, Liss. We should be getting back."
She nodded, and they left the Ishvalans behind together. Though Lissa doubted they'd see these Ishvalans again, that they'd ever be back at Xerxes… She still felt as though this single, short meeting had altered both her life and Ed's irreversibly. For what Amestrians could say they'd walked away from a conflict with Ishvalans…without any bloodshed?
"Hey, Lissa…"
She blinked and looked at Ed, confused. "What's up?"
He quirked a faint smile. "You did it again, you know."
"Did what again?"
Ed sighed fondly. "You stepped in front of me, again. You really need to get out of that habit, silly. It's almost like you don't think I can handle myself."
Lissa turned up her nose at him. "I know you can, dummy. That doesn't change whether or not I want to protect you."
"Just…" He smiled and kissed her temple. "Be careful."
She shifted closer, for once not embarrassed of the blush coloring her cheeks. "Okay," she murmured. "I'll try, Ed."
